House GOP now pushing forward with Trump's idea to make future Ukraine aid in form of a loan

In February, the Democrat-led Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid package with assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, among others, that has since languished in the House amid staunch opposition from many conservatives about additional funding for Ukraine amid unanswered questions about how previous funding has been spent.

House Republican leadership is now considering a way to placate that opposition by making at least some of the Ukraine aid be in the form of a loan -- an idea that was first floated months ago by former President Donald Trump, according to Fox News.

That news will likely have President Joe Biden fuming and at odds with himself, for while he has been insistent on swift passage of the aid package for Ukraine and others, which this proposal could result in, he will undoubtedly be displeased at the realization that it was Trump's idea and is indicative of his continued influence over congressional Republicans.

Trump wants to make foreign aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan

In a February 10 Truth Social post, former President Trump decried the Senate's $95 billion foreign aid package and asserted that all future foreign aid should come in the form of a loan, even if said loan was interest-free and had an "unlimited" timeframe for repayment.

To be sure, the idea was initially dismissed by many analysts and pundits in the media, but was accepted as a possible consideration by some House Republicans.

Indeed, NBC News reported in March that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and pertinent committee chairs, such as Mike McCaul (R-TX) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, were discussing the proposal among other ideas to get past the opposition to the overall foreign aid package.

One idea was to make non-military aid to Ukraine, such as funding for government functions and long-term rebuilding efforts, into an interest-free loan with an unlimited shelf life, to be backed at least in part by the liquidation of seized Russian assets.

Trump reiterates Ukrainian aid should be "a loan instead of just a gift"

Just about a month later, The Hill reported that the idea of Ukrainian aid as a loan was mentioned on Friday during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago featuring former President Trump and Speaker Johnson, during which Trump said, "We’re looking at it right now, and they’re talking about it, and we’re thinking about making it in the form of a loan instead of just a gift."

"We keep handing out gifts of billions and billions of dollars, and we’ll take a look at it," he added. "But much more importantly to me is the fact that Europe has to step up, and they have to give money. They have to equalize. If they don’t equalize I’m very upset about it, because they’re affected much more than we are."

Interestingly enough, while the idea had initially been dismissed by many, The Hill noted that several unnamed Democrats in both the House and Senate signaled their openness to the aid-as-a-loan proposal, if only to help hasten and guarantee the passage of the aid package.

Speaker Johnson includes Ukrainian aid in loan form amid new proposal on foreign aid package

That idea, among others intended to result in the foreign aid package passing muster in the House, was apparently on the mind of Speaker Johnson over the weekend, according to the Associated Press, as was revealed by the speaker in an announcement of a new plan on Monday.

Johnson is hoping to break up the $95 billion package passed in February by the Senate into four separate components to be voted on, with whatever is ultimately passed to be repackaged together and sent back to the Senate for a concurrence vote.

Among the different parts of that plan was former President Trump's original idea to transform Ukrainian aid into a loan that is financed by the liquidation of seized Russian assets.

However, while there has been some bipartisan support expressed for the idea -- again, if only to ensure the aid package is finally passed -- it remains unclear if the loan proposal will suffice to bring enough Republican opponents to additional Ukrainian aid on board to secure passage of the financial assistance for the besieged Eastern European nation.